Why Systems Are What Is Holding You Back In Life
“An important function of almost every system is to ensure its own perpetuation.” – Donella H. Meadows
Everything that you have ever achieved in life is a direct result of a system. Which means that all of your future results in life are also a direct result of a system (or lack there of). Systems don’t need to be complicated and in fact some of the best systems in the world are generally designed to be “fool proof”.
One system that I am currently struggling with is my own health system. I have struggled with this for years. I have done all the typical dieting and gone completely ham on a workout regimen but always find myself defaulting to a state that is “easy”. That is why I have started this website.
I am sure that there are aspects of life that you take for granted because I am sure that I have also…And I believe that if we all want to live a better life that we need to share are experiences and document the processes that we develop and design along the way.
Now you probably can tell simply by the name of this site that I am a builder. Someone who has a bit of an engineering background and is willing to go out of my comfort zone to test things and see things work. We are all on a journey in life, to create and #build a life we love.
I hope that they stories, experiments, and information provided on this site can help you along your journey as you try and do the same.
A Bit of Background…
My name is Drew Hitchcock and I have followed a pretty typical life path to most up until this point. Grew up, got good grades in school, graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Got a typical 9-to-5 role at an Aerospace Company in Cincinnati, finished a Masters Degree in Engineering. But unlike a lot of me peers and colleagues I came to a conclusion early on that there needed to be more to life.
I wanted life to be more than just getting up, going to work, coming home, chilling out, going to be bed, and repeating that process. That is what lead me to exploring a slew of different things, I started a YouTube Channel and grew an audience of 2000 subscribers (which has since dwindled below 1300), sold goods on amazon.com. attempted to build a brand call the Smart Connoisseur (a story for another day), worked a part-time job as a Genius at my local Apple store (I request that you not ask questions about your apple device on this site), and have been doing marketing consulting for a few authors and brands on the side until this point.
and who I am becoming…
The date that I am writing this section of this website is June 23rd, 2020. At the end of last month, I was laid off from my position at the Aerospace Company mentioned earlier and have decided to go all in on creating a business out of my marketing consulting company. When I started consulting on the side, I would have never imagined it being as close to my full time income as it is at this point (My revenue is around 70% of what I was making with about 16-20 hours of work per week) and am super grateful for all of the amazing people who are willing to share their processes on the internet that I have been able to turn into an income that can maintain my lifestyle.
Ever since my first year out of college, I told myself that I wanted to be a speaker but until now, I felt I was supposed to stay the course with my full-time job and continue going down the typical path that most individuals go on. But after getting the opportunity to work with some authors/speakers on their YouTube Channel, I decided that I wasn’t going to table this dream. That is why I am in the process of writing a book: How to Meet Your Heroes: A Practical Guide to Working with the Influencers You Follow. Since this is my first book, I will be self-publishing the book and learning the process that it takes to be an author.
Now you are probably wondering, “If you are writing a book, why the heck are you creating this website?” Great Question! When you are working a normal 9-to-5 position, you have naturally have a schedule where you there are expectations set on you (deadlines, project, places to be, etc). What I have learned over the last few weeks is that system is what propels your forward. Without that system, it is difficult to move forward.
My aim is to use this site to document the systems that I am building for my life. These systems include things around health, relationships, and business. These are the Majors in Life, and why this blog is focusing on them. I love the following quote by Tony Robbins:
Most people fail in life because they major in minor things. – Tony Robbins